Thomas Reid - The Gossamer Plain

As they ate, Zasian revealed what he had learned the night before from his divinations. "It was a bit troubling," he said between mouthfuls of poached eggs bathed in a creamy cheese sauce. "The auguries I conducted hinted that time was of the essence, but it all felt somehow… wrong."

"What does that mean?" Vhok asked with a frown. He held a slice of hot bread slathered with fruit compote. He was about to dip it into a bowl of clotted cream, but his hand hovered over the dish, forgotten in his concern at Zasian's news.

"I don't know how to explain it," the priest replied. "It's almost as though the quicker we go, the further from our goal we'll be, but delaying only means diminished hope of success. I can't be any clearer than that. I don't really understand it myself."

The cambion's eyes blazed in anger, but Myshik sensed that Vhok's fury was directed at something distant, rather than at the human sharing his table. The half-dragon wondered what was behind the journey they undertook. Thus far, Vhok and the priest had been unwilling to enlighten him.

"I don't like how this is playing out. If she never reaches the gate or doesn't know what to do, we will be trapped in the City of Brass with no way to get home again."

"Not entirely true," Zasian countered. "There are other portals available, other ways of traveling between the planes. We might have to pay dearly, in either gold or service, to make use of one, but it is possible to find our way back by another route should our plan not come to fruition."

Vhok thought for a few moments longer. "What do you mean when you say 'the further away we'll be'? Aren't we going in the right direction?"

"Yes, yes," Zasian answered, "it's not so much a question of direction as one of… time. It's entirely possible that I've received two different possible answers, based on two different ways of completing the task. Divinations are notoriously vague and confusing, you know."

Vhok snorted. "You do not have to remind me of that, priest. I've attempted to divine more than my share of shrewd courses to take in my lifetime. I'm sometimes convinced the very act of learning a thing causes direr consequences than remaining ignorant and acting on judgment and intuition." The cambion sighed. "My gut tells me to hurry. Since we're no closer to an answer after your efforts, I'm inclined to listen to my gut. So we cross the Infernals."

Zasian nodded. "I expected such would be your decision. Based on your map, we will reach the shores of the Infernals after half a day of travel on foot. I might, however, find a more expedient means of getting there. I must spend a while in prayer, so I will tailor my divine inspirations to suit our journey and perhaps smooth the way before us."

At that, the priest withdrew to his chambers, leaving Myshik and Vhok alone. The cambion didn't seem in a mood for conversation, so the half-dragon finished his repast and returned to his quarters to gather his things. Vhok had instructed his servants to prepare food suitable for eating while traveling, so Myshik stuffed plenty of dried meat and waterskins into his pack.

Later, the three of them gathered in the foyer of the magical abode, and stepped through the shimmering curtain into the heat-blasted landscape of the elemental plane.

Aliisza became aware.

She lay on a bed.

Her bed, within her quarters, within the Court.

It was night.

I don't want this bed, this room!

Slowly, she sat up, trying to remember what had happened to her.

There was falling, she remembered, a great plummet into the endless clouds. She let herself fall, never slowing her descent at all. It had gone on and on, growing darker as night seemed to settle and the air whistled past her. She sobbed for a long while, knowing she was destined to live out her year of captivity in that fashion, just as the celestial judges had ordained. She had agreed to it. She had been foolish, thinking that she had to choose life-any sort of life-over death, for the sake of her child. So that she could be its mother, she had thought.

Oh, how foolish she had been to let them trick her that way. But she had, indeed, let them.

Somewhere during that melancholy catharsis, she had slipped into some kind of a trance, a half-waking daze.

She didn't remember returning to her room, to her bed. She wondered how she wound up there.

A faint light, the glow of the moon, perhaps, shone through the window of the balcony. Aliisza arose from the bed, naked, and padded to the window. She peered out and saw the same horizon that had been there before. A sea of clouds stretched forever. The moon had indeed risen and shone down upon that eerie vista, casting a silvery glow everywhere. The alu listened, but the only sound she heard came from the fountain, gurgling as it trickled into the pool on the far side of the room.

Aliisza turned back and saw her clothing, her armor and weapons, laid carefully upon a chair. She dressed and donned her gear, then moved toward the door. She opened it a crack and peered into the courtyard. The soft glow of several lamps, set low on either side of the paths, bathed them in their honey-colored shine.

No one was there.

Am I to live here alone? she wondered. Is this what they intend? To drive me mad with isolation in this vast replica?

Anguish and fear began to well up in her again, but the alu grew angry with herself for such craven thoughts. She and Kaanyr had spent decades trapped beneath the cursed Hellgate Keep. What was a single year?

You didn't do it all alone, she reminded herself. You had companionship. You had Kaanyr.

Is that what they want me to realize? That I need others to make me happy? Is that how I'm supposed to find some measure of benevolence, some deeper understanding of my own wholesomeness?

She dismissed that foolish notion.

Don't let them win, she told herself. Outsmart them. Find a way.

Sighing and trying to regain her confidence, Aliisza pulled the door open and stepped out into the garden plaza. After one step, she stopped and gasped.

The soft glow of moonlight had a strange effect on the trees, gave them a haunting, celestial look. Each leaf seemed to glow with an inner silver light. A gentle breeze whispered through the branches, and Aliisza thought she could make out faint music in the tones. Numerous sets of chimes tinkled softly in the zephyrs, and the fountains gurgled serenely.

"It's quite placating at night, isn't it?" a voice said from behind her, in the shadows. Tauran.

Aliisza spun in place, suddenly on edge and angry again. "What are you doing here?" she snapped. "Come to torment me?" She spied him sitting upon one of the benches, previously concealed by a flowering hedge.

The celestial shook his head. "Not at all," he replied gently. "To comfort you, if I may."

Aliisza tossed her head in aggravated disbelief and turned away from him. "Don't patronize me," she sneered. "You came here to gloat over your trickery."

"I don't gloat," the angel said, and his voice held a bit of an edge to it. Something almost dangerous. "I leave that for your kind."

"My kind?" Aliisza said, incredulous. "And what, exactly, is my kind?"

"The self-serving, conniving, manipulative creatures who believe they are above the law and have little regard for anyone other than themselves," Tauran answered. "You think you should be allowed to do anything you want, no matter the cost, and you take pointed delight in watching the wretched squirm in your wake. Your kind."

Aliisza had to laugh at that. "Thus far, I've seen much of the same from you and yours," she said. When the angel began to bristle, she added, "Don't pretend you don't manipulate. Don't pretend you're not self-serving. You told me just enough of the situation to convince me to trust you, that you had my best interests at heart, when all you really wanted was my child. And you think you can make it all better by pretending foolish compassion and gentle sadness."